Durov's Code

🛰 Starlink for 32 Countries // The company has released an interactive map of Starlink's satellite coverage, highlighting the regions where it already provides internet services. @kod_ae

🤷🏻 The Deal Has Been Suspended // Elon Musk has said that the deal to buy Twitter for $44bn has been put on hold. Apparently, the entrepreneur doubts that the social network gave him correct information about the number of spam/fake accounts on the platform. @kod_ae

🔋 Extremely fast charging // StoreDot, an Israeli developer of extreme fast-charging (XFC) battery technology for electric vehicles, has demonstrated technology that can charge an electric car battery in just 10 minutes. StoreDot plans to create charging technology that will enable electric vehicles to travel 100 miles (160.93 km) in five minutes of charging by 2024, reducing that time to three minutes by 2028 and to two minutes by 2032. The demonstration involved a 300×100 mm pouch cell that was charged within 10 minutes, exceeding the 0% to 80% capacity set for the demonstration. The cell maintained a charge rate capable of increasing range by 100 miles (160.93 km) for every five minutes of charging. @kod_ae

👨‍💻 Hub71 Ecosystem Expansion // Hub71 has accepted 16 start-ups into its growing community. @kod_ae

📲 Instant Payments Boom in the Gulf // Bahrain turns out to be the leader in introducing instant payments in the Gulf, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE lagging far behind. @kod_ae

🏇 Is the Crypto Wild West Over? // Next year global market regulators are likely to create a new body to co-ordinate cryptocurrency rules. Chair of the International Organization of Securities Commissions says a global group that may align crypto rules is clearly needed. According to the official, the world now faces three C's: COVID, climate change and crypto. @kod_ae

🔬 Israeli Cultured Meat Startup Raises $250 mln // Four months ago Israeli startup Redefine Meat, which produces 3D-printed animal-free meat substitutes, raised $135 mln. Now it is set to get another $250 mln from Bank of America. With this latest round, Redefine Meat will take its total funding over the past three rounds to $430 million. The company uses plant-based ingredients and technology to produce texture, flavor, and eating experience of beef and other high-value meat products. The cultured meat market size was valued at $133 mln in 2021, and is estimated to reach $500 mln by 2030. @kod_ae

📈 Bloody Cryptobath // Bitcoin price started another decline and traded below the key $30,000 level. BTC even broke the $28,500 level to move further into a bearish zone. It is currently down 12% and is trading near $27,400. BTC is also down 32% in a week. Most of the major altcoins are declining as well. ETH is down 21% to under $2,000, it trades for $1,900. XRP is down 28% and is trading at $0.365. SOL has fallen 35% in the last 24 hours and is now worth $42.540. Many altcoins are down over 20%, including ADA, DOT, AVAX, SHIB, MATIC, CRO, LTC, NEAR, BCH, UNI, XLM, ALGO, VET and SAND. Meanwhile, LUNA is down by 97% and is trading near $0.40 and its stablecoin UST, which should always be worth $1, at some periods fell as low as 30 cents and has no recovered so far. @kod_ae

🛫 Digital Currencies and Metaverse in Airline // Emirates plans to use advanced digital technologies such as blockchain, metaverse and cryptocurrency as part of its strategy to engage with customers faster and more flexibly. The Dubai-based airline will hire new employees to work with the metaverse and NFT to develop applications to monitor customer needs. Emirates intends to use Bitcoin as a payment service and also add NFT collectibles to the company's websites for trading. @kod_ae

📦1 Billion Meals Initiative // Millions of people are currently suffering from hunger. The UAE has launched a 1 Billion Meals Initiative - a campaign that will provide people in need with meals in 50 countries. Pavel Durov has contributed 12 million meals. Everyone can join the campaign to end hunger and achieve food security. @kod_ae

📸 Sharp Criticism over Zoom IQ // More than 25 Privacy Rights Groups have called on Zoom to drop its new Zoom IQ feature. It allows the analysis of speaker sentiment after a conversation, based on artificial intelligence. The tool, designed for salespeople, provides metrics such as engagement or patience in an attempt to improve future communication and closing deals. Activists warn that Zoom Video Communications Inc.'s new emotion and engagement analysis feature could introduce bias and violate privacy. Zoom has responded to public pressure in product decisions in the past. At the beginning of the pandemic, the company dropped a feature that tracked meeting participants' engagement, such as when they stepped outside the chat window. @kod_ae

ℹ️ Dubai Council Meeting Decisions // Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced a number of decisions supporting Dubai's vision to advance sustainable development. @kod_ae

😱 Tech Giants Lose $1 Trillion // After the Federal Reserve raised interest rate by 50 basis points, stock market started to fall, with Big Tech experiencing its worst days. Over the last three days their total value loss exceeded $1 trillion. Microsoft lost $189 bln, Tesla $199 bln, Amazon $199 bln, Alphabet $123 mln and Meta $70 bln. At the same time, the market value of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, reached 9,19 trillion rials ($2.45 trillion), briefly surpassing Apple's market value @kod_ae

👀 UAE Drivers Go on a Second Strike in a Month // Delivery riders working for Talabat, a Middle East unit of German-based Delivery Hero SE, refused to show up for food delivery shifts on Monday, leaving the company struggling to fulfill orders. In contrast to another delivery service Deliveroo, whose riders went on a strike earlier this month, Talabat didn't announce changes in its payment policy. The company promised to listen to "what drivers have to say". @kod_ae

⚡️ Elon Musk will reverse Twitter's ban on Donald Trump // Speaking at FT Live's Future of the Car Conference, Elon Musk said he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former President Donald Trump if the acquisition goes through. @kod_ae

1️⃣ The First of its Kind // Dubai-based incubation platform CE-Creates announced merger with Abu Dhabi-based venture builder hatch & boost, in what will be the first incubation platform merger in MENA. The new entity, which will operate under the name hatch & boost Ventures, plans to expand its operations across the region, particularly in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The incubator focuses on impact-driven startups and this year plans to nurture seven portfolio companies, which span across agritech, sustainable mobility, femtech, foodtech, and fintech. @kod_ae

💰 Largest Investment in Egyptian Fintech // Egypt’s fintech startup Paymob has recently raised $50 million in Series B round. The funding provided by PayPal’s corporate venture firm Paypal Ventures, London’s Clay Point and New York’s Kora Capital will be used to expand into the Gulf and North Africa. Paymob enables merchants to accept digital payments both online and in-store and offers access to financial services. @kod_ae

🥺 The End of Stablecoins? // Algorithmic stablecoins that should have played the role of safe haven in the chaos of crypto, instead, can provoke more volatility. Against the background of Bitcoin crash, UST coin plunged 30 per cent. It clawed back some of its losses, but is still below its dollar peg. All the mechanisms, that were supposed to keep UST price at $1, seemingly stopped working, which resulted in an unprecedented crash in the cryptomarkets. @kod_ae

🌆 Startup Ecosystem in MENA Update // Careem, YallaMarket, Rain and Dubai's new VC Fund. Everything you need to know about startup ecosystem changes in April. @kod_ae

✈️ The Future of Aviation is Made in Saudi Arabia // Future Aviation Forum kicks off today in Saudi Arabia, the country that is set to become the next global aviation hub. @kod_ae